You are what you eat

Growing up, i never quite got the phrase, ‘You are what you eat’, raised in a Peranakan Chinese family, you learn never to turn down food and you grow used to being ordered to finish whatever is put on your plate, no excuses.

So while it seems common sense that running/training on a lunch of nasi padang is going to be a lot harder than a bowl of salad or a healthy wrap, I’ve had to find this out the hard way. Call me stupid but I always saw salads as ‘diet food’ not a full meal, and certainly not one that could give me a real burst of energy.

The re-angling of my diet has been one of the more interesting changes of the past year. Favourites like bar chor mee, nasi padang and burgers are now a special treat, while big healthy salads form 25% of weekly food intake. Funnily enough, I’m not really complaining, I do like my greens and I whip up a mean mixed green salad with grilled chicken and chunks of avocado.

That said, nothing quite beats a salad or a wrap from Salad Stop!

You could say I have an addiction but this addiction is working for me.

Need a jolt of energy? It’s got to be the Jai Ho!

The Cheaper Than A Facial salad is for days when I’m feeling a little weak.

And if I feel really greedy, the Hail Caesar usually does the trick.
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It’s 12.30am on a Saturday but I’m already looking forward to my Monday Salad Stop! fix.

Photo credits: Salad Stop!

The dry run

If I had to do this mini-tri all over again I probably would do things a little differently.

For the most part – and this is totally my fault – I’ve been navigating through this like a blind person.

I am three days from this event and i have NO idea what to eat, how to carb load or even what in the world to wear on Saturday!

And in about 30 minutes time i am going to attempt to ride home from work on a racing/road bike…. never been on one before, wish me luck!

However, i did attempt to do a dry run on Sunday. I roped in my long suffering niece Sarah to run with me, while my vacationing buddy Simei came for the swim with me.

Shiny, happy (exhausted) people

I didn’t do the full distances but I now have a rough idea of how hard it is going to be on the day itself. My legs really felt like jello going from the swim to bike, and after run (and subsequent bike home) I was laid up on my couch feeling rather sorry for myself. But interestingly, while my body was tired, my mind was racing.

All this exercising has had quite a few advantages. I’m amazed at the changes I’ve seen happening with my fitness. At the start of the year I was barely able to make it pass 1km on the treadmill. Last week, I went for a 45 minute run two times after work with Lyn – see photo! – and even combined one run with a cycle home. Amazing.

Keeping a sense of humour is important!

While I will probably never be super duper fit… I love that I am fitter, and relieved that it didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

Now, I just need to cross that finish line within the three hour mark. Here’s hoping.

And if hope is not on my side, I’ve told everyone I know who will be there (and now you) to HURL ABUSE at me should they see me flagging or looking like i want to give up.

Trust me, it is the only way I’ll keep going!

So if you see me on Saturday – race number (S370) – please unleash your inner sailor and curse at me!

Excuses, excuses…

It’s been a while since my last post. No excuses, it’s been a little hectic on my end.

What with training, the Audi Fashion Festival (and TOS’ amazing After Party Series), production for the June 2009 issue, and friends visiting from out-of-town; I barely had a moment to myself.

But now that it is all over – phew! – I’ve proven something to myself, that all those years putting off working out/training/committing to anything, with the much-too-convenient excuse of ‘I’m busy!’ has just been utter BS.

It is possible, but i need to adopt the right attitude and discipline – something I’ve always had trouble with.

Case in point, 15 years ago when my mother got called to school for the first time because of less than satisfactory grades. I don’t need to tell you that my mother wasn’t pleased with me… to make matters worse, my best friend decided to set me straight once and for all.

I believe her words went along the lines of: ‘you don’t study during your free time. You have to make the time to study.’

Whenever I feel like quitting anything, I mull over her words – it does the job!

With friends Melanie and Darren at TOS After Party @ Supperclub - 8 May

Running is the new black?

I have to say I’m amazed by the number of people who’ve sent me emails/text messages since this blog has gone up.

From what I can tell running seems to be the popular exercise of choice of many, and this includes a sizable number of reformed non-runners.

The other evening running from the The Fullerton to the Singapore Flyer – great way to see the The Flyer by the way – I was floored by the steady stream of people pounding the pavement. Short of sounding obsessed about running, because I’m not, it’s just that I could complete 1.5km at the start of the year. And as of last week, I ran my first 5km without stopping!

My lovely niece, possibly my biggest cheerleader, made sure I did not stop moving for the full 40-plus minutes.

Stretching out the pain

‘Keep bouncing, keep bouncing. Don’t stop. If you do, you’re going to regret it cause I’m going to tell everyone you stopped and walked. You’ll feel SO ashamed you’ll feel like you need to go out and run again.’

She’s one smart cookie… I kept running or ‘gummy-bear-ing’ [In reference to the bounce movement. Anyone remember ‘gummy bears bouncing here and everywhere’?] when I could not run. It looked pathetic but stopping was not an option.

I was exhausted – as you can tell from the photo – but it felt really good knowing I’ve done the full 5km.

Surprise, surprise less than 48 hours

My kick ass niece Sarah

later I repeated the ‘feat’ at the gym – treadmills make running so much easier! – 42.30mins and counting.

It’s not a great timing but who cares, all i want is to cross that finish line.